Barges

Today we had training at the Navigation Lock.  Huge barges travel up and down the Columbia carrying freight (mostly grain ) down river to ... [ I need to ask about the destination ]

They pass right by our rig.  The lock channel is about 100 feet from us.  Without the many trees, we would have a fabulous view of passing traffic.  As it is, there are many breaks in the greenery to watch the progress.

   One of the units that pass here almost every evening is a barge carrying juvenile fish .  The dam has several programs to benefit the salmon run.  The fish ladders direct the adults around the dams and upstream.
     

This is the Juvenile barge coming back from dropping off fish.  

 It's about to turn to starboard to head for the lock.

 Here it's coming up along side our site

                                             The juvenile salmon are the focus of many changes.
            The turbines that generate electricity have been redesigned to minimize fish deaths passing through them.  (The survival rate passing through the dam is 95 - 98%.)
            The way water goes through the spillways has been modified to make that trip less stressful for the young fish going out to sea.
            There is now a diversion stream of water that pipes water and fish around the dam in a 2 mile long tube and back into the river.  In addition, a a huge sprinkler system sprays water in the air at the output area to keep birds, (gulls) from gobbling up the fish as they re-enter the river.
            Then there is the barge.  It goes by our site about 7 o'clock.  It travels down several miles to about Beacon Rock where the load of juveniles are released after dark to try to fool the sea lions.

    Then there are the sea lions.   California Sea Lions and Stellar Sea Lions.  Guess what sea lions like to eat?   You guessed it,  Salmon.
        Fishermen say,  "Kill Em !"
        Ecologists say, " You can't Kill them, They're endangered !"

Big controversy.   Big!!!!   So what's being done?   You already know what the dam and the Corps of Engineers are doing.   The USDA and the Department of Fish and Wildlife of Oregon and Washington are trying to help.  There are folks trapping sea lions to determine and branding them to see if there are certain ones that are the real "bad guys".   Also, get this" there are people hired by the USDA to shoot "Flash Bangs" near sea lions to "discourage" them from hanging out in the area of the dam.  I talked to one the guys and he was a happy guy.  " I get free camping, work 40 hours a week on my schedule and get to shoot a gun legally.  He was provided a single shot 12 gauge with special shells.  His job is to drive around the site and watch for the critters.  When he sees them he puts a couple of rounds of these special shells into the air or water nearby to harass them into moving elsewhere.  Not sure how well the program works but at least they are trying.  When he leaves here next month he will go to the John Day Dam and shoot gulls who eat the little salmon.
   The money spent on salmon restoration is enormous.  I have heard that the budget for the harassment program is about  $1,000,000 a year. Yipes.  I had no idea of the enormity of the problem.

This is a photo taken of the fish viewing window at one of the powerhouses.  It is one of the most visited areas of the dam.  Folks what to see the fish.  These are windows on the fish ladders.  I will talk more about them soon.   

This is not a salmon.  It is a shad.  Over 300,000 will pass thru here on their way to spawn this year.Notice how murky the spring water is.